Title: Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio
Author: Jonah Winter
Illustrator: James E. Ransom
Publisher & Year of Publication: Antheneum, 2014
Genre: Biography
Recommended Audience: Ages 8-11
Summary: This book covers the life of famous baseball player Joe DiMaggio. His family were immigrants from Italy, and at seventeen he was working as a newsboy and asked to play for his hometown team the San Francisco Seals. Later he was recruited to play for the New York Yankees and paid $25,000 which was unheard of during the Great Depression. Significant milestones about his personal are also included.
Evaluation/Reflection: This is a great picture book and biography for elementary students. It does focus on one particular accomplishment or baseball season, but is a broad overview of the person Joe DiMaggio was.
Memorable Literary Moment: Nothing in particular, sticks out as a memorable literary moment. It is just an all-around good book.
Illustrations: The book includes full-page watercolor painting of DiMaggio playing baseball.
Review: The great Joe DiMaggio still holds fascination for modern fans. Baseball in the first half of the 20th century was indeed the national pastime. Whether it was the major league teams, players and game, the minor leagues with their future stars, or the local sandlot team, baseball was king. Winter taps into this fervor for this brief but thorough biography. From the beginning, Joe was determined not to become a fisherman like his father. Baseball would be his way out. Winter covers all the highlights of DiMaggio's remarkable career, including his amazing, still unbroken hitting streaks, contextualizing it against the Depression and the coming war. He describes Joe's quiet, almost taciturn demeanor and how it did nothing to impede his stature as a national hero. The narrative notes how DiMaggio's every deed was covered in depth in newspapers and on radio, how he earned his nicknames, "Joltin' Joe" and "the Yankee Clipper," and how he even became the subject of a hit song. Even DiMaggio's later marriage to Marilyn Monroe is remarked on for its joining of two of the most famous icons in America. Ransome's detailed watercolors beautifully convey DiMaggio's persona and his baseball prowess with just the right combination of accuracy and nostalgia. Hero worship abounds, but even within this context, the book scores a home run. – Kirkus Review
Promotion Idea: Create a display of library books and famous baseball players in the fall as the World Series is happening. Have students take a poll on who they think will win.
Acquisition: Public library, or available on Amazon for $15.06 (hardcover).
Author: Jonah Winter
Illustrator: James E. Ransom
Publisher & Year of Publication: Antheneum, 2014
Genre: Biography
Recommended Audience: Ages 8-11
Summary: This book covers the life of famous baseball player Joe DiMaggio. His family were immigrants from Italy, and at seventeen he was working as a newsboy and asked to play for his hometown team the San Francisco Seals. Later he was recruited to play for the New York Yankees and paid $25,000 which was unheard of during the Great Depression. Significant milestones about his personal are also included.
Evaluation/Reflection: This is a great picture book and biography for elementary students. It does focus on one particular accomplishment or baseball season, but is a broad overview of the person Joe DiMaggio was.
Memorable Literary Moment: Nothing in particular, sticks out as a memorable literary moment. It is just an all-around good book.
Illustrations: The book includes full-page watercolor painting of DiMaggio playing baseball.
Review: The great Joe DiMaggio still holds fascination for modern fans. Baseball in the first half of the 20th century was indeed the national pastime. Whether it was the major league teams, players and game, the minor leagues with their future stars, or the local sandlot team, baseball was king. Winter taps into this fervor for this brief but thorough biography. From the beginning, Joe was determined not to become a fisherman like his father. Baseball would be his way out. Winter covers all the highlights of DiMaggio's remarkable career, including his amazing, still unbroken hitting streaks, contextualizing it against the Depression and the coming war. He describes Joe's quiet, almost taciturn demeanor and how it did nothing to impede his stature as a national hero. The narrative notes how DiMaggio's every deed was covered in depth in newspapers and on radio, how he earned his nicknames, "Joltin' Joe" and "the Yankee Clipper," and how he even became the subject of a hit song. Even DiMaggio's later marriage to Marilyn Monroe is remarked on for its joining of two of the most famous icons in America. Ransome's detailed watercolors beautifully convey DiMaggio's persona and his baseball prowess with just the right combination of accuracy and nostalgia. Hero worship abounds, but even within this context, the book scores a home run. – Kirkus Review
Promotion Idea: Create a display of library books and famous baseball players in the fall as the World Series is happening. Have students take a poll on who they think will win.
Acquisition: Public library, or available on Amazon for $15.06 (hardcover).